Actually building the River of Rocks (Part One)

The idea of the River of Rocks is fairly simple; the actual construction of it has been much more difficult.

First I have had to scrape out the path for the River of Rocks, digging down enough to make the path level.  Then I put the rocks in place, to see how they would fit together.

I'm using a string here to help me keep the rocks level.  Some of the rocks are thicker and some are thinner.  Each rock has to have the dirt under it dug out to accommodate that specific rock, so that it lies flat and stable and at the correct height, so that the path is (mostly) level.

Once that is done, I poured dirt over it and raked the dirt down into the spaces between the rocks. Then I saturated the entire area with water, to get the dirt to settle down, and flow under the rocks.  I think there are a couple of the smaller rocks that will need to be "raised" up a bit (probably less than half an inch) once everything settles, but for now it's looking pretty good.

This is thick, rich dirt which we have been saving from the truck load that went into the raised garden.  It should be excellent dirt for the mondo grass to be transplanted into.  The mondo grass will fill the spaces between the rocks (after everything settles and dries).

This is the first section of the River of Rocks.  Since this process seems to be working, I will continue it from the A/C compressor down to the end of the house.